


Bouquet

by minikawa



Category: Monster (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Flowers, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Post-Canon, Requited Unrequited Love, dumb fluff, oc is big dumb and in love, tenma is an angel because he is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-20 22:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21064043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minikawa/pseuds/minikawa
Summary: Everyone and their grandmothers knew that Malik Winter was in love with Doctor Kenzo Tenma. The only question on anybody’s minds was when the poor fool would finally ask him out.





	Bouquet

Everyone and their grandmothers knew that Malik Winter was in love with Doctor Kenzo Tenma. It wasn’t like he made an effort to hide it. Whatever charm and tact the man might have had hurled itself out the window whenever Tenma was around. For all his good looks and silver tongue, Winter was always reduced to a stammering, clumsy, oafish wreck every time. The only question on anybody’s minds was when the poor fool would finally ask him out. 

Then along came Tuesday, springtime. The sun graced Dusseldorf with its warmth, and the sounds of birds singing and children laughing rang in the air. And just five blocks away from Eisler Memorial Hospital, Winter carried a bouquet of flowers close to his chest. He all but skipped with every step. He greeted everyone on the street, strangers and familiar faces alike, with a bright “Pleasant day, isn’t it?” Some scratched their heads in wonder. But the others knew as soon as they saw the dance in his steps and the dimpled smile on his face. 

Winter’s rhythmic gait slowed as soon as he entered Eisler Memorial. Something lurched in his chest. His mouth suddenly felt dry. He briefly considered calling Eva for some last minute advice, but he knew exactly what she would have said. 

_ “Good God, get a grip! Just march your ass right up to him and tell him how you feel! It’s not that complicated, you pissnelke.” _

She was right, Winter thought as he walked down the hospital halls. He was making things harder than they should be. Just give him the flowers and ask him if he was free this weekend. How hard could that be-

Oh God. Tenma was right there. He was just exiting one of the rooms at the end of the hallway with a nurse by his side. Winter instinctively ducked behind a wall. His cheeks burned, and he could almost hear Eva snorting at his cowardice. 

_ You didn’t come all this way to play Hide and Seek. You just might regret it if you keep playing it safe.  _

Taking a deep breath, Winter tentatively peeked his head from out behind the wall. Tenma hadn’t seemed to notice him. He was talking with the nurse, but their words were too faint for Winter to discern. The nurse was holding a bouquet in her arms, identical to the one that Winter carried! He watched as she bashfully smiled and presented the bouquet to Tenma…

Oh. 

Winter’s heart sank like a rock. Tenma accepted the bouquet, a gentle smile gracing his lips. His eyes looked so warm, so kind…

Shoulders slumped, Winter made his leave. The bouquet dangled from his hand. 

~

The sun continued to shine for the rest of that afternoon. Families had picnics in the park, and couples enjoyed romantic strolls along the flower-strewn paths. 

Winter sighed as he took it all in. He had long since returned the flowers back to the shop, and now he sat on a lonely park bench, slouched as he rested his cheek on his hand. 

_ Why does this feel so familiar?  _ He thought to himself. A young couple passed him by, giggling as they walked hand-in-hand. 

_ Oh.  _ Winter smiled dryly at the memory of a picnic with Tenma and Eva at this very same park. It was here Tenma had proposed to Eva, and Winter had smiled and laughed as he supported his best friends in their engagement, all the while hiding a freshly broken heart. God, he couldn’t believe that that had been more than a decade ago. So much has changed since then. Although they rarely spoke these days, Eva and Tenma had parted on good terms, and the former was pleased to give Winter her blessing to court her former fiance.

“Don’t wait too long this time,” she had said over a cup of coffee. “Someone else might snatch him up again if you wait.”

_ I should have listened to you, Eva,  _ Winter thought with another heavy sigh.  _ How could I make the same mistake twice?! Ugh, I really am a fool- _

“Winter?”

To this day, Winter would never speak of the embarrassingly high pitched squeak he made as he jolted from his seat. He swiftly turned around to face none other than Kenzo Tenma. 

Oh shit. 

“H-Hey…” Winter couldn’t recognize his own voice, which had been reduced to a rather sad rasp (which  _ totally  _ did not come from crying). “Nice day, huh?”

“It’s beautiful, really. I’m surprised anybody would be feeling down on a day like this.” Concern underlied Tenma’s soft smile. “May I join you?” 

Heart fluttering, Winter shifted to the side, allowing Tenma to take a seat beside him. Tenma was still holding the bouquet, Winter had noted. His heart couldn’t have sunk any lower. 

“I noticed you earlier at the hospital, but you didn’t seem to hear me when I called you. Is everything okay?”

“O-Of course!” Winter feigned a smile. “How could anyone be down on a day like this?”

The look on Tenma’s face indicated that he didn’t believe him, but he nodded as he gazed out into the water. “You’re right. I always enjoyed springtime afternoons...It’s days like this that make you feel glad to be alive.”

Tenma leaned back on the bench, taking in a deep sigh of content. He closed his eyes and let the sun warm his face, and a gentle breeze lightly played at his hair. Oh, the way Winter’s heart soared at the mere sight! Despite his heartache, he was glad to be alive at the same time as the angel beside him. 

And then, the angel touched his hand. 

“And days like this are better when you share them with somebody,” Tenma beamed, squeezing Winter’s hand in his own. 

Winter would have been lying if he said he wasn’t close to tears at this point. God, he was so sappy it wasn’t even funny anymore. Even still, he kept his smile. “Well yeah...but shouldn’t you be spending the day with your new lady? You wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.”

The response Winter got was...not at all what he expected. Tenma blinked slowly, tilting his head to the side as if he had not heard him properly. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“...New lady?”

“Y-Yeah...who else?” Winter said, chuckling awkwardly. “That nurse back at the hospital was pretty cute...though I’m wounded. You never told me you were seeing anybody, old friend.”

“I’m not.”

Winter had never experienced taking a watermelon flying at 2000 km/p to the chest, but he was certain that whatever emotion he was experiencing at the moment felt exactly like that. His mouth opened and closed silently like a stupid fish out of water. 

“W-Wait...but...you...the flowers...the nurse...the flowers…” Winter stammered, eyes darting between Tenma’s puzzled face and the bouquet in his lap. Fortunately, it did not take long for Tenma to make sense of Winter’s incoherent babbling. 

“Oh! The bouquet? Well, Marie simply picked up the flowers for me from the shop! They’re actually meant for…” Tenma trailed off, and now it was his turn to look bashful. He looked away, rubbing the back of his head. 

“They were actually meant for you.”

_ For you. For. You.  _

Winter could have sworn he had died, because for about five minutes his soul straight up flung itself out of his body. He could see his own pale face: his mouth gaped open and his eyes went completely blank. All the while, Tenma tenderly fondled at the flower petals in his bouquet, his cheeks tinted pink. 

“You’ve been a very good friend to me, Winter. Especially after all that’s happened these past few years...” Tenma wistfully looked out across the water before taking a breath and turning back to face Winter’s blank stare. His gaze softened. 

“I don’t think I could ever repay you for your kindness, nor could I express just how much of a dear friend you are to me. But...I was wondering if we could be more than just friends.”

Tenma’s shy inquiry was met with a few more seconds of silence. Then just as quickly as it had left, Winter’s soul catapulted itself back into his body like an asteroid. He couldn’t for the life of him remember why he had been so mopey and miserable a few hours ago. The sun seemed to shine brighter, the birds sang so much more sweeter. Winter’s heart bloomed as Tenma graced him with a smile that held all the beauties of springtime. 

“Can I take you out to dinner sometime?”   
  


**Author's Note:**

> Soooo I forgot that Tenma wasn't working at Eisler post-series, sooo lets just pretend he's visiting there or something lmao
> 
> Please forgive this dumb fluff. Also the watermelon sentence is the best thing i will ever write, and i weep cuz i'll never create anything better than that (1) line


End file.
